The river Euphrates played an important role in the livelihood of the great city of Babylon. In his book History of Cyrus the Great (1878), Jacob Abbott wrote: “[Babylon] was the capital of a large and very fertile region, which extended on both sides of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf. . . . The River Euphrates was the great source of fertility for the whole region through which it flowed.” Yes, Babylon’s prosperity stemmed from the Euphrates River.

What happened to ancient Babylon at the hands of Cyrus the Great is not of mere historical interest. Using it as a type, the Bible book of Revelation speaks of a harlot named “Babylon the Great” sitting on “many waters.”

Revelation 17:15 indicates that the “many waters” this religious harlot sits on are the “peoples and crowds and nations and tongues” upon whom she depends for support, much as ancient Babylon depended on the waters of the Euphrates for its prosperity.